Falkland Islands: Desmond Tutu Urges Britain To Give Up Its Claim

A group of Nobel Peace Prize winners including Desmond Tutu has urged Britain to back down over its claim to the Falkland Islands.

The retired South African Anglican bishop is one of the signatories to a letter sent to David Cameron on Wednesday, which calls on the prime minister to "review the British government's position of refusing to dialogue on this matter".

According to the AFP news agency the letter also calls on the British government to "comply with United Nations resolutions calling for the initiation of talks with the Republic of Argentina."

The calls are led by Argentine artist Adolfo Perez Esquivel, who won a Peace Prize in 1980 for his work on human rights and his opposition to the military dictatorship in his country that was in power at the time of the Falklands War.

The other signatories to the letter are Argentinian Adolfo Perez Es, Rigoberta Menchu of Guatemala, Mairead Maguire of Ireland, American Jody Williams and Iran's Shirin Ebadi.

The letter comes as Nick Clegg rejected Argentinian claims that Britain had deployed nuclear weapons to the South Atlantic.

Speaking in South Korea on Tuesday, the deputy prime minister said the accusation was "unfounded" and "baseless",

"The United Kingdom ratified the protocols to the treaty in 1969, the treaty referred to by President Pinera which guarantees a nuclear weapons-free zone covering Latin America and the Caribbean," he said.

He added: "We have respected those obligations since 1969 and we will continue to do so."

Tensions between Argentina and Britain have been simmering for months as the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War approaches.

Argentina reacted angrily to the recent deployment of the Royal Navy's most advanced destroyer HMS Dauntless (pictured below) to the region, as well as the decision to send Prince William to the Falklands in his capacity as a RAF search-and-rescue pilot.